present the staple article of cultivation. The rich
lands bring *fine maize, sweet potatoes, and the
vegetables generally of Mississippi and Louisiana.
In the high country above 34. wheat does well.
Rye and barley will thrive almost in any parts of
the country. Mulberry abounds ; and on the ba-
ses of the precipitous hills of White river, we
should suppose, would be the happiest soil and
climate for the vine. Muscadine, and pine wood’s
grapes abound; as do pawpaws and persimons.
Figs are raised, but with difficulty; and the tree
is often killed to the ground by the frost. Peach-
es are raised in great excellence and abundance.
Apple orchards do well at Mount Prairie, and in
the open and high lands above Peccan Point on
Red river;. and no doubt, will thrive in all the
kigher and more northern regions of this territory.
In the lower and more settled parts of it they have
no where succeeded well. Chickasaw and prairie
plums grow wild in abundance, and the woods
and prairies abound in native fruits and berries
The soil is of all qualities from the best to the
most sterile. The settlement of Point Chico, on
the Mississippi, has a soil of the best quality; and
is noted for the productiveness of its cotton plan-
tations. The bottoms of the Aikansas are not
generally so rich, as those of Red river.xe2x80x94The
belt of cultivated land below the Post of Arkan-
sas, called ^; the coast.’ does, indeed, somewhat
resemble the delightful country so called above
New Orleans in appearance. The resemblance
ceases here. It has a soil of but moderate rich-
ness ; and needs manuring to produce large cot-
ton, or maize. To one emerging from the inun-
dated and mephitic swamps below, this line of
open, contiguous plantations, dotted with beauti-
ful clumps of the fine trees of this climate, and
French habitations, which generally have a
very picturesque appearance, this tract, called
xe2x80x98 the coast,' has a charming appearance. There is
a great extent of cotton lands of the first quality,
in the country along the river, above the Post, in
the xe2x80x98 Quawpaw purchase.’ The country, five or
six hundred miles up the Arkansas, where the
American garrison used to be, and that, where it
now is, and the country where the Arkansas mis-
sion is settled, have large prairies interspersed
with forest bottoms, and great tracts of excellent
soil. There is much fine country in this territory
above Peccan Point on Red river. Mount Prairie,
which rises, like a prodigious Indian mound, from
the subjacent plains, may be reckoned among the
striking spectacles of the country. It is ten or
twelve miles in diameter ; and is situated on the
waters of the Washita. It has a soil of great fer-
tility. and of the blackness of ink ; rather expos-
ed, however, to xe2x80x98bake,’ as the phrase is, in the
li t and dry weather. They obtain water from
wells, which are obliged to be dug of very great
dxc2xab*p*-i.xe2x80x94In the whole depth vast quantities of sea-
she’ls appear.xe2x80x94In a state of pulverization they
are mix-- d with the earth, communicating a maw-
kish ar. I ’innleasant taste to the water, and very
great tefiilty to the soil. On White river are
some of the finest lands and the healthiest sites
for planters in this country. In short this terri-
tory possesses great bodies of the best soil. There
are wist tracts, too. of precipitous knobs, sterile
ridges, sand-.-, or muddy prairies, and miserable
barrens. The country on the Mississippi, between
WTiite river and the St. Francis, is in many places
above the overflow, and of the highest fertility.
Wappanocka bottom, opposite Memphis, is an un-
commonly high, rich and extensive bottom. The
soil on the St. Francis is very fertile; and is cov
ered with a heavy growth of beech, generally de-
noting a rich soil; but the hills are so precipitous,
and exposed to wash, as hardly to be susceptible
of cultivation. On the whole, this territory has a
sufficiency of excellent lands, to become a rich
and populous state.xe2x80x94In its eastern front, and near
the Mississippi and the Arkansas, it is exposed to
excessive annoyance from its myriads of mos
chetoes.

This climate is a compound of that of Missouri
and Louisiana. Until we advance 200 miles west
of the Mississippi, in its humidity it more nearly
resembles the latter. The season, in point of the
forwardness of vegetation in the spring, is also,
much more like that of Louisiana. The sea*son of
planting is three weeks later than on the coast
above New Orleans ; and is more than that in ad-
vance of the climate of Missouri.xe2x80x94The distribu-
tion of rain is extremely unequal. There are often
drenching raihs and thunder every day, for thirty-
six days in succession. At other times, the weath-
er is as remarkable, for long droughts. Planting
of corn commences by the middle of March, and
cotton by the first of April. By this time the for-
ests of the Arkansas are in full leaf; and the
shores of no river show a deeper tangle of vines
near the soil, and of nobler forest trees above.

The shores of Arkansas, as far up as Little Rock,
are decidedly unhealthy. Great tracts on all sides
are covered with sleeping lakes and stagnant bay-
ous. The country is a dead level. The falling
waters of the rains cannot be drained off. In the
commencement of summer they are exposed to
the intense ardors of the sun. Sickness is the
natural result. On the vast prairie, which com-
mences just above the Post, and extends ninety
mile? up the country, it is more healthy ; and there
is less annoyance from the moschetoes. This long
sweep of country is thoroughly ventilated. But
the air, in the timbered bottoms, is close, and un-
elastic ; and the moschetoes are excessively trouble-
some. There is but too often an abundant visita-
tion of bilious and remittent fevers in the latter
part of summer and the first of autumn. Farther
up the country and on the open prairies, it is as
healthy as in any other country in the same cli-
mate. It is a very absurd idea, that a country of
the extensiveness of this should all be alike sickly.
In this territory there are many positions, but a
few miles apart, one of which may be as sickly as
the shores of Surinam, and the other as healthy,
as any country in America.

Among the curiosities of this region may be
mentioned the vast masses of sea shells, that are
found dispersed over different tracts of the coun-
try. They are generally found in points remote
from limestone ; and answer a valuable purpose
to the inhabitants, who collect, and burn them for
lime. Far above the poJtfcal limits of thp territo-
ry, and towards the sources of the Arkansas, is the
sublime elevation, which we hope will always re-
tain the name of Pike’s mountain. The prairies
are bounded in that direction by the stupendous
ridges of the Rocky mountains. There are very
considerable mountains near the Hot Springs,
which see.

The Quawpaw Indians intermixed with many
fugitive Choctaws, reside on the Arkansas not far
above the Post. That portion of the Cherokee
nation, which has emigrated west of the Mis-
sissippi, has its chief si elements on the Aikansas
Beyond this territory < a White river are congre
gated the Shawnees nd Delawares, that have